Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The video is excellent, like all the previous good Logitech cams like the QuickCam Pro 4000. In fact, the video is better than the previous generation. The built-in mic has excellent sensitivity and clarity, which is a real plus. You can stand back from it, face away from it, and it still picks you up well, while rejecting a lot of room noise.
So, why did I only give it 2 stars?
1. It's a CPU hog. Even with the echo cancellation turned OFF, this camera consumes a good 10% more CPU on my same test system, when videoconferencing, when compared to a QuickCam Pro 4000 or Notebooks Pro model (the OLD Notebooks Pro model... the NEW one has all the same problems that this one does). That may not sound like a big deal, but it is when you start using 65% instead of 55% on a Pentium 4 2.4 GHz machine (WinXP Pro SP1)
2. The acoustic echo cancelling (AEC) is shoddy and is a MASSIVE CPU hog.
When it's on, the CPU in the above test case jumps to 85%. And it doesn't really echo cancel very well. It does a lot of heavy gating off and on, causing sentences at each end of a conversation to frequently get cut off. And even so, it lets a lot of echo ring around and go back out.
3. The installer shoves an obnoxious set of auto-startup tasks and services into your system. If you aren't afraid to turn off Windows services and delete things from the "Run" folder of your registry, you can get rid of these things. But it's either that or install the "driver only" option in the installer. These things make the camera consume even MORE CPU, even with AEC off, than the numbers I quoted above (i.e. 75% instead of 55% for a simple 2-way video conference.
4. Beware of installing this if you already have other Logitech
cameras installed on your system. The new driver installer "says" that it uninstalls these, but you'll find that the old camera either won't work anymore, or neither one will, until you uninstall both and reinstall the new one. It's best to just uninstall the old one and install the new one. The old camera will then work with the new driver. AND IT WILL USE 10% MORE CPU THAN IT USED TO!
5. The pan/tilt function of the camera works, but it ONLY works with Logitech's little proprietary popup control panel, which you must enable off their tray icon. So, you have to leave some of those annoying "automatic" things running to get this to work. Further, it doesn't obey the standard DirectShow interfaces to make it move, so application writers can't very easily control the camera motion, if at all. I downloaded Logitech's SDK to do this. None of the SDK examples even run, and there is no tech support for it.
Background:
I installed the full product and let it do what it wanted (I didn't try to disable anything). I trained the AEC with their tool. It still doesn't really work.
I have DirectX 9.0c (latest), and Logitech's latest driver. In fact, when I downloaded the newer driver from their website, nothing got better and the CPU usage climbed by ANOTHER 5%!
I am a video programmer by trade, and have tested a large number of USB cameras and echo cancellation devices. I only tell you this to give you some level of faith that I'm not a total idiot, and I am used to evaluating these products.
If you are just an average user who plugs in the camera and uses it, this camera will work well. But forget the echo cancelling; that really doesn't work. All in all, you probably would have been better off with older models, because they installed easier, used less CPU, and caused less installation interaction problems with other cameras.
In other words, it's just a big step backward. If future releases of the driver improve things, great. But I give Logitech a big black eye for even putting out an initial release that ties down my machine this much.
All these problems are true of the Fusion and the new-generation Quickcam for Notebooks Pro. They all share a similar, if not identical, driver. So they all have the same problems.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Logitech QuickCam Orbit MP Webcam ( 961422-0403 )
QuickCam Orbit MP delivers true 1.3 megapixel performance, with RightLight 2 Technology for sharp images even in difficult lighting situations.Featuring an elegant, eye-level design with motorized pan and tilt, the camera automatically keeps its focus on you. Logitech's exclusive RightSound Technology ensures that your voice comes through clear and echo-free through included microphone. This webcam connects to your PC through a USB port and works with Windows XP and 2000. One of the neat features is the ability to add your voice and image to instant Internet messages and for use with Skype phone calls. You can achieve up to 30 frames per second live video or you can capture stills at up to 1280x960 resolution. So just add an optional headset or use your computer's speakers and enter the realm of cyberspace with the Logitech Orbit MP.Logitech's Video Effects imitates facial expressions and head movies with the 3D animated avatars or 2D face accessories that allows change to look with glasses, hats and more. Fun and easy to use with MSN Messenger Video Conversation, Yahoo Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger and others Use the 9 inch Dual-Height Base to stand to position the camera closer to eye level System Requirements -Pentium P4 1.4 GHz or AMD Athlon processor 1 GHz (Pentium P4 2.4 GHz or better recommended), Windows 2000 or XP, CD-ROM Drive, 128MB RAM (256MB RAM recommended), 200MB Free Hard Disk space, 16-bit color display adaptor, Windows compatible sound card and speakers (full duplex sound card recommended), Available 1.1 or 2.0 USB port (USB 2.0 High Speed port (Required for megapixel image capture) Package Contents -Logitech QuickCam Orbit MP Webcam with built-in microphone; Base with 9 stand; QuickCam software; Quick-start guide 2-year limited hardware warranty
Click here for more information about Logitech QuickCam Orbit MP Webcam ( 961422-0403 )
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